Social Sciences Collegiate Division

Anthropology encompasses a variety of historical and comparative approaches to human cultural and physical variety, ranging from the study of human evolution and prehistory to the study of cultures as systems of meaningful symbols. Anthropology can lead (through graduate study) to careers in research and teaching in university and museum settings.

The Chicago Studies Program incorporates opportunities for students to engage academically and experientially with the city of Chicago by combining traditional coursework with experiential learning in Chicago. Course offerings range from anthropology and art history to public policy studies and geographical studies.

Comparative Human Development is an interdisciplinary program focusing on the social, cultural, biological, and psychological processes that influence development over time and in different social and cultural settings. The program provides excellent preparation for students interested in advanced postgraduate study at the frontiers of several social science disciplines, or in careers and professions that require a broad and integrated understanding of human experience and behavior.

Computational Social Science is an emergent field at the intersection of the social and computational sciences – leveraging computational advances, such as those in AI and Machine Learning, as well as the widespread availability of “big data,” to drive the next generation of social research. 

The minor program enables College students in the social sciences to build fundamental computational skills with the purpose of enriching existing approaches to social scientific inquiry. Additionally, for College students outside of the social sciences (e.g., in the physical and biological sciences), it provides an opportunity to consolidate their computational, mathematical, and statistical skills, as well as apply these skills to questions about social and cultural life.

The University of Chicago’s new minor in Democracy Studies, launching in Fall Quarter 2022, will provide students essential knowledge, insights, methods, and critical perspectives necessary to understanding the world around us and the historical developments that have placed it in such a precarious state. Students in the minor will learn, among other topics, how democracy extends well beyond the political arena, to encompass a broad set of structures, including civic organizations, laws, deliberative practices, rhetorical strategies, cultural forms, collective imaginaries, and moral, ethical, and spiritual codes.

The minor therefore offers a broad range of courses allowing students to select cross-disciplinary electives suitable to forming a broadly conceived program of study.

Economics is intended to equip students with the basic tools to understand the operation of a modern economy: the origin and role of prices and markets, the allocation of goods and services, and the factors that enter into the determination of income, employment, and the price level.

Courses in the Education and Society minor probe fundamental questions about the interplay between human development and the institution of schooling using the tools of the social science disciplines. Courses explore how people learn and teach as well as the complex relationships between education and the communities and societies it is situated within. Courses are theory-driven yet also provide important insights into the social contexts of education, strategies for strengthening educational practice, and levers for reducing social inequality in academic achievement. The minor spans a diverse set of course listings because education as a discipline spans the life course and happens in many contexts: in the schoolhouse, the family, communities, workplaces, and political arenas. Psychological, social, economic, political, and cultural factors influence educational trajectories and outcomes ranging from individual health and income to forms of social inequality and trajectories of economic development. The interactions among educational organizations and other institutions shape the possibilities for innovation and intentional reform. To understand the intersection of educational institutions and the broader societies, these courses cross boundaries among theory, research, policy, and practice. This minor is focused on education topics from a theoretical and methodological perspective. College students in any field of study may complete a minor in Education and Society. The flexibility of this course of study complements majors in any of the disciplines.

In the early twenty-first century, environmental challenges – including deforestation, climate change, pollution, water resources, habitat loss, and the food and energy needs of a growing population-are among the most pressing issues facing the world. The Environmental and Urban Studies program allows students to address these issues through focused interdisciplinary coursework and research.

Gender and Sexuality Studies allows undergraduates the opportunity to shape a disciplinary or interdisciplinary plan of study focused on gender and sexuality. Students can create a program linked by a focus on gender as an object of study or by gender categories in topics such as sexuality, social life, science, politics and culture, literature and the arts, or systems of thought.

The discipline of geography contributes to an understanding of society by exploring the Earth’s environment and its interactions with human life, by inquiring into cultures and societies from the perspective of area study, and by investigating problems of spatial organization. The BA program in geographical studies provides a background both for advanced specialization in the discipline and for study in other fields.

The Global Studies program emphasizes the interconnected nature of our modern world. Global Studies moves from specific sites and objects towards global connections, and students are able to choose their coursework from many different disciplines. Four key tracks structure the the major: Bodies & Natures, Knowledge & Practice, Cultures at Work, and Governance & Affiliations.

The Health and Society minor explores the social, political, and economic processes that shape individual and population health. Disability, experiences of illness, categories of disorder, ideals of well-being, and models of medical intervention can all vary between cultural settings and across history. Rapid changes in medicine and biotechnology create new understandings and expectations about illness, health, and well-being. At the same time, inequalities in access to care and in health outcomes across populations, in the United States and globally, have become important to conversations in policy and practice alike. At the individual level, how and where one lives may influence a range of conditions and outcomes including mental health, the onset of diabetes, and the length of life. Health is also influenced—in both positive and negative ways—by our relationships and social networks. Finally, people's life chances and health trajectories form within frameworks of health care policy and systems of provision and exposure to environments that reflect historical legacies, economic activity, and political choices. To understand health in its broader contexts, this minor encompasses a range of disciplines and methods in the social sciences, and differential emphases on theory, practice, and policy implications.

A minor in Health and Society will provide a background for medical school, the allied health professions, public health, health policy, health advocacy, the study of law with an emphasis on health, and doctoral work in a range of social science disciplines.

Studying history sheds light on human experience and thought in different times and places. Fields of study may be defined by nations (e.g., Chinese, Roman, U.S., international history) or by genres (e.g., legal, cultural, gender history). Topics include the history of revolution, slavery, sexuality, colonialism, ethnicity, war, and work. History is excellent preparation for a wide field of endeavors from law, government, and public policy to the arts and business.

History, Philosophy, and Social Studies of Science and Medicine (HIPS) covers a wide range of social, historical, and conceptual issues relating to science. The goal of the program is to provide students with a sound basis on which to interpret and evaluate science and science policy. Students in the program must do sufficient work in one or more sciences to acquire a sound foundation for studying the nature of science.

The Human Rights Program at the University of Chicago integrates the core questions of human dignity with a critical examination of the institutions designed to promote and protect human rights. The curriculum examines human rights from a variety of disciplinary, thematic, and regional perspectives.

The Minor in Inequality, Social Problems, and Change is an exclusive undergraduate program in the University of Chicago Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice.

The Inequality, Social Problems and Change minor examines underlying causes and consequences of—and innovative solutions to—inequality as it takes shape in pivotal societal institutions and to formulate pathways for reducing inequality and facilitating social change. The minor places particular weight on understanding social issues that disproportionately affect marginalized and disadvantaged populations along the lines of race, ethnicity, gender, socioeconomic status, migration status, national origin and identity. Students will develop (1) a grounded understanding of the drivers and sources of different types of injustice (e.g., economic, racial, gender, class) and how they are connected to various forms of structural disadvantage, and (2) multilevel (individual, family, community, organizational and societal) and multisystem (education, criminal justice, immigration, labor market, health and social welfare) thinking and approaches to mitigating social inequality. The minor is interdisciplinary, offering students a broad range of courses across various disciplines to form a broadly conceived program of study.

The Master of Arts Program in the Social Sciences (MAPSS) is a one-year program of graduate study, with nine courses over three academic quarters, culminating in an article-length MA thesis. It gives students the opportunity to specialize in doctoral-level study in anthropology, economics, history, political science, psychology, or sociology, or to pursue a highly individualized and interdisciplinary curriculum, with our mentorship and support. MAPSS students take the same classes as UChicago doctoral students, they work with the same faculty on their MA thesis, and they come away with professional-grade research methods that will advance their academic and professional careers.

Students who major in Latin American Studies gain a thorough grounding in selected aspects of Latin American history, politics, economics, or related subjects; knowledge of one or more of the social sciences as they deal with Latin American materials; and competence in Spanish or Portuguese as a tool for further work. The BA program in Latin American Studies can provide an appropriate background for careers in business, journalism, government, teaching, or the nonprofit sector, or for graduate studies in one of the social sciences disciplines.

The program in Law, Letters, and Society is concerned with law in civilian and customary legal systems, both historically and contemporaneously. The program’s organizing premise is that law is a tool of social organization and control, not simply an expression of will or aspiration, and that it is best understood by careful study of both rhetorical artifacts and empirical consequences of its application.

Political science contributes to a liberal education by introducing students to concepts, methods, and knowledge that help them understand politics within and among nations. A bachelor’s degree in political science can lead to a career in business, government, journalism, education, or non-profit organizations. It can lead to a Ph.D. program in the social sciences or to professional school in law, business, public policy, or international relations.

The psychology major introduces students to the fundamentals of scientific psychology, providing a firm basis of psychological knowledge and research experience. Students explore the fundamentals of psychology, statistics, and a number of courses in specialized sub-areas of psychology.

Public Policy Studies students pursue the interdisciplinary analysis of domestic and international policy issues with emphasis on the application of economics, political science, and sociology to real-world policy issues. The program is designed to introduce students to policy analysis and implementation, equip them to use quantitative and economic techniques and methods, train them in policy research, and give them a command of at least one particular policy area.

The minor in Quantitative Social Analysis explores social statistics and mathematics to describe, understand, and predict the behavior and experiences of individuals, groups, and organizations of groups. These statistical and mathematical methods focus on measurement, analysis, or both, using techniques and strategies that are widely useful, for example, in understanding thoughts and behaviors of individuals, as well as the cultures of societies, fluctuations of markets, actions of governments, spread of disease, dynamics of migration, causes of war, and the diffusion of knowledge. Students in the minor will develop strong statistical foundations for the purpose of learning how to draw valid inferences from quantifiable data and critically evaluate empirical evidence in the social, behavioral, and health sciences.

A minor in Quantitative Social Analysis provides an excellent foundation for application to graduate study at various levels and in many disciplines. Its interdisciplinary nature offers students a breadth of knowledge across social sciences, public policy, and public health, providing a unique perspective not typically found in traditional departmental programs.

The curriculum in Race, Diaspora, and Indigeneity (RDI) gives students space to explore three concepts that have shaped the modern world and continue to reverberate in contemporary thought, action, culture, and policy: race, a social construction that defines difference and shapes relations among people; diaspora, formed through processes of migration and practices of collective meaning-making; and indigeneity, which refers to the categorization and self-identity of people dwelling on a given territory that has been subjected, often violently, to occupation or settlement.

Sociology provides an understanding of human relations and social organization, and is attractive for students considering careers in such professions as business, education, law, marketing, medicine, journalism, social work, politics, public administration, and urban planning. The phenomena studied by sociologists range from face-to-face interaction in small groups to the structure of the modern world system.